Employers freezing pay deals

Significant numbers of firms have been keeping the lid on wage deals so far this year, a new report has revealed.

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's latest focus on pay study, 52 per cent of those private sector workers surveyed have seen their pay frozen this year.

Some 7 per cent have experienced pay cuts, while just 32 per cent have been awarded pay rises.

Within the private sector, those employees most likely to have enjoyed a pay hike in the first six months of this year work in manufacturing (48 per cent) and finance (46 per cent).

Salary increases, the CIPD reported, are associated with the size of the business, with those working for micro employers least likely to have received a pay rise (11 per cent), followed by small (29 per cent), medium (36 per cent) and large (33 per cent) businesses.

Charles Cotton, the CIPD's performance and reward adviser, said: "We will see some increase in the number of private sector workers receiving a pay award in the second half of 2011, especially in the retail, catering and hotel sectors, as the increase to the national minimum wage comes into effect in October.

"However, given that the busiest time for pay awards in the private sector is between January and May, most of these workers who have not received a pay rise so far will now probably not get one at all."